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"As the State continues to produce one crisis after another, more groups of marginalized people will find themselves and their resistance criminalized."

Roughly 200 people arrested at an Inauguration Day anti-fascist march in Washington, D.C., are facing charges punishable by up to 75 years in prison, a level of repression that many believe is designed to quell protest.

Those detained were part of a coordinated day of action across the U.S. capital, that saw thousands take part in rallies, blockades and marches to protest the hate and exclusion of the Trump administration and “set a tone of resistance,” according to “Disrupt J20” organizers.

Now, the majority of the defendants are uniting behind the principle that, while the state can come after them, it can’t force them to collaborate with the prosecution or turn on each other.

“We will not cooperate against any of our codefendants, nor accept any plea deals that cooperate with prosecutors at the expense of other codefendants,” reads a unity statement. The declaration has been signed by 135 defendants, according to Kris Hermes, one of many providing legal support.

The defendants pledge that they “will refuse to accept that any of the charges or actions of law enforcement were necessary or justified. … We will not say anything publicly or privately that has the possibility of harming individual defendants or defendants as a group.”

In addition, they commit to supporting other defendants who do not violate these principles, “even if we do not agree with [their individual decisions].”

“They are trying to bury political protesters”

Many of those arrested on January 20 report that they endured abuse at the hands of police. A lawsuit announced in late June by the ACLU of the District of Columbia alleges police are guilty of abuse, unlawful arrests, and denial of food, water and bathroom access to protesters. One of the four plaintiffs, Shay Horse, toldDemocracy Now that police were using “molestation and rape as punishment” during the course of invasive anal probes. “[Horse] feels as if he has been raped,” the lawsuit states.

A separate, class-action lawsuit filed January 20 by Washington, D.C., lawyer Jeffrey Light charges that crowds were indiscriminately swept up by police and subjected to beatings, flash-bang grenades and chemical irritants throughout the course of detention, in what constituted “unreasonable and excessive force.”

234 people were ultimately charged in connection to the protest. Twenty cases were dismissed and some defendants pled guilty, leaving approximately 200 to face trial for up to eight felony counts each, including felony riot charges. Some individuals have been hit with additional counts, including assaulting a police officer.

According to Sam Menefee-Libey, a member of the Dead City Legal Posse, which is supporting the Inauguration Day defendants, these charges carry a maximum of 75 to 80 years.

Lawyers say the mass charges are unprecedented in Washington, D.C. “I have been defending activists in Washington, D.C., for more than 30 years. During that time, I've seen only a very limited number of felony charges at demonstrations,” Mark Goldstone, an attorney representing some defendants in the case, tells In These Times. “I've never seen a felony conspiracy charge, and I've never seen a riot charge.”

Michael Deutsch is an attorney for the Chicago-based People’s Law Office, which has been fighting government abuse and police brutality for more than four decades. He tells In These Times, “They are trying to bury political protesters.”

Climate of repression

The harsh response to the J20 protesters is part of a broader trend. In one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump took to the White House website to declare, “Our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, the looter, or the violent disrupter.” Soon after, he unrolled three “law and order” executive decrees on policing, premised on the falsehood that there is a war on cops. The orders are poised to escalate the climate of repression for everyone, including protesters.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are advancing anti-protest bills in more than 20 states aimed at increasing the cost of civil disobedience, further criminalizing large demonstrations, prohibiting masks and even protecting drivers who hit protesters with their cars. Oklahoma recently passed a statute poised to drastically increase charges and fines against individuals who engage in civil disobedience against the state’s oil and gas pipelines.

Defendants hope their unity offers an example of how social movements can help each other withstand the onslaught.

“As the State continues to produce one crisis after another, more groups of marginalized people will find themselves and their resistance criminalized,” says one defendant, who requested anonymity due to the active charges. “Protestors from Black Lives Matter, water protectors from Standing Rock and activists from [the inauguration protest] are not the first targets of repression—nor will they be the last.”

“If these social movements are going to survive,” they add, “repression should be seen as an opportunity to organize into coalitions for our mutual support.”

Another defendant, who also requested anonymity, tells In These Times, “It's very scary to face the prospect of 75 years in prison for political protest. But I draw a lot of strength from the fact that, despite significant barriers, more than half the defendants are working together in solidarity.”

Putting the state on trial

While the escalation of repression is pointed, it is not new—nor is collective organizing among defendants. More than 40 years ago, Deutsch was part of a team of lawyers who represented defendants in the 1971 uprising at Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York, waged against conditions of overcrowding, abuse and medical neglect. After Gov. Nelson Rockefeller ordered state troopers to “retake” Attica, 39 people were slaughtered—29 of them incarcerated men (the total death toll at the end of the uprising was 43).

Sixty-two incarcerated men were indicted for the uprising, and the state covered up details of the event. When defendants and lawyers agreed to launch a unified defense, not a single individual cooperated with the prosecution, says Deutsch.

“Our theme was to put the real criminals on trial,” he recalls. “The real criminal was Governor Rockefeller who ordered the assault when he didn’t have to.” Following public pressure and multiple investigations into the massacre, the new governor Hugh Carey granted amnesty and clemency to all who had been indicted or convicted.

While in many ways today’s circumstances differ, Deutsch argues that the Attica case offers important lessons about the power of unity. “People might have different facts in their case, but by being unified, they can essentially put the state on trial,” says Deutsch. “It challenges the whole premise of the prosecution to have everyone stick together.”

Inauguration Day defendants acknowledge that it will take more than a statement to put principles of unity into action. A third anonymous defendant tells In These Times that defendants and their supporters are busy organizing and building relationships, to prepare for the fight ahead. “Now more than ever, it's the responsibility of everyone who considers themselves a leftist, progressive or radical to show up for each other,” said the individual.

Dane Powell, the first defendant to plead guilty, faces sentencing on Friday. Supporters are planning to flood the D.C. Superior Court to “ensure that no one is alone as they go through this.”

Meanwhile, Menefee-Libey says trials are expected to continue in Washington, D.C., for the next 18 months. “The prosecution is trying to use the strategy of isolating defendants,” says Menefee-Libey. “Solidarity—which practically means material, emotional and social support—is absolutely integral to people standing strong in face of state repression.”

This article is part of the Resister’s Digest series, aimed at amplifying the stories of front-line communities organizing in the era of Trump.

Jeeze, you can not possibly be as stupid as you sound! Maybe you are that stupid.

Posted by CRAIG BRAYE on 2017-07-10 14:07:45

Thanks. Now i won't have to see your one sided assumptions for comments.

Posted by JT on 2017-07-10 11:32:30

History repeats, -The Plot to Seize the White House---youtube, --same Wall Street bankers to control the US.

Posted by cuja1 on 2017-07-09 10:55:01

Asshole blocked

Posted by smallbear (White Rose Society) on 2017-07-09 08:58:07

Your statement is way off. I fully see what is going on. Creating resistance is only because democrats are not getting their way. Booooooo tears whining and rock throwing

Posted by JT on 2017-07-09 08:29:05

antifa is a terrorist group.they are tearing up hamburg and have threatened to kill journalists, and they attacked people in berkeley with fireworks. they ran milo out of berkeley with violent riots because he came to give a speech. your worried about the cops? please, you keep pushing the bar with violence you guys are going to end up getting shot

Posted by Storm Blair on 2017-07-09 00:59:56

George Soros?How pathetic.You got nothin'.

Posted by smallbear (White Rose Society) on 2017-07-08 11:35:27

Obviously blind to what's going on around you.

Posted by smallbear (White Rose Society) on 2017-07-08 11:33:30

They don't anymore. The US is now a place of such hate and fear, they stopped coming.

Posted by smallbear (White Rose Society) on 2017-07-08 11:32:29

Asshole blocked

Posted by smallbear (White Rose Society) on 2017-07-08 11:30:27

"Nationalism; Identifying oneself with a single nation, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with Patriotism. Patriotism; Devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality." - George OrwellNationalism was central to Hitler's philosophy and led the Japanese to invade China in 1937 and precipitate the Second World War.Make ameriKKKa hate again, Redneck.

Posted by MarkTele on 2017-07-08 10:49:02

"Washington, D.C., lawyer Jeffrey Light charges that crowds were indiscriminately swept up by police [...], in what constituted “unreasonable and excessive force.”.

There was plenty of "unreasonable and excessive force” on display there, just not in the way he thinks.

George Soros only has so much money he can toss around to support anti-Trump rioters like those, and he's going to need every buck he has to pay off those little snowflakes facing 20-year prison terms. I imagine Homeland Security is getting pretty good at following the money trail, and with Trump & Sessions calling the shots they'll be going at it with gusto.

Posted by MrJimm on 2017-07-07 15:52:39

And the reason why so many people cross our borders illegally to find a better life here is...?

Posted by MrJimm on 2017-07-07 15:40:47

Gotta love those Trump #MAGA hats, made in China!

Posted by Kathy Dreher on 2017-07-07 04:19:25

Hyle Hiltler!

Posted by Porque on 2017-07-06 20:44:46

Like I said, you're an idiot. You just proved it.

Posted by Nobody Special on 2017-07-06 20:44:01

Stand in what way, moron? The number of oppressed, impoverished, and merdered? No person of character, integrity, principles, and a moral imperative wants to stand with a 100% corrupt, inverted-totalitarian, police-state government. But it only takes 3-5% of the populatuon to eradicate it by guerilla warfare!

Posted by Porque on 2017-07-06 20:43:28

Was you trying to make a coherent statement, moron!

Posted by Porque on 2017-07-06 20:38:36

Ooooh. Haha! Bring it Mohammed. I could use some target practice.#MAGA Posted by RedSon on 2017-07-06 20:25:18

Those are called criminals, though I can see how you'd confuse the two.

Posted by Nobody Special on 2017-07-06 14:25:46

You have any idea how many protestors there were that day who didn't get arrested? These idiots were breaking laws when the others weren't. That's why the criminals are in jail, and why they shouldn't be offered any form of deal. Peaceful protests are constitutionally protected. Rioting and breaking laws aren't.

Posted by Nobody Special on 2017-07-06 14:23:32

Because what you said is peaceful, like the riots...er, protests? Idiot.

Posted by Nobody Special on 2017-07-06 14:19:58

You may. And may I remind you that liberal lawmakers want them gone. So, genius, if your side gets power, you won't. We won't give up ours. Let's see who wins.

Posted by RedSon on 2017-07-06 14:13:58

May I remind you that liberals own guns too?

Posted by sharonsj on 2017-07-06 14:11:05

Except there's no proof these people were rioting. Learn to read.

Posted by sharonsj on 2017-07-06 14:10:44

Haha! People like you are the problem with this country. Get some national pride. Grow a backbone. Back your president, because he IS your president. America first. God bless the U.S.A. #MAGA Posted by RedSon on 2017-07-06 13:40:17

Thank you for giving the people in other nations a first hand view of how Trump won, and the type who believed his overt lies. Then: "Mexico will pay for the wall. Believe me." Now: "Solar panels will pay for the wall, and it was my idea". (Solar panels weren't his idea any more than "priming the pump" was his new phrase. But the point is: what happened to his repeated, declarative assurances that Mexico will pay?) The guy lies about unimportant subjects (whose idea was it to use solar panels) as often as he tells the big lies, and that is the defining characteristic of compulsive liars.

Posted by Kathy Dreher on 2017-07-06 13:19:59

Good. Let 'em rot. That's what they deserve for felony rioting.

Posted by Malvenue on 2017-07-06 08:33:59

Yea, except its not. No country can stand with the U.S.A. If your country is tough, give it a go. Hahaha! They next war you fight will be fought with sticks and stones, junior. #MAGA Posted by RedSon on 2017-07-06 07:52:38

America is a disease on the back of humanity whose time is past due to be up!!!

Posted by Porque on 2017-07-06 07:36:43

Covertly put ice picks into the heads of the loved one's that had anything to do with the passage of this and other unconstitutional laws, as well as anyone enforcing these laws, police, prosecutors, judges, etc., etc., etc. This and Guerilla Warfare are the only viable tactics that can effectively neutralize , and eradicate corrupted totalitarianism, administered by a police state, which should have been overthrown and obliterated eons ago!

Posted by Porque on 2017-07-06 07:34:03

Create resistance... why? You have your freedom no matter who is in office. Democrats seem to hate just to hate.

Posted by JT on 2017-07-06 06:27:32

These are the Really Stupid snowflakes.

MAGA 2017

Posted by Stang88 on 2017-07-06 04:01:22

Hahaha! The police state? Lol! Those criminals are where they belong. You are not the resistance - we are. We are taking back our country, securing our borders, enforcing federal laws, boosting our economy, becoming energy dependent, returning to nationalism and love of God and country.

You have lost. Your resistance is futile. God bless America. #MAGAPosted by RedSon on 2017-07-06 01:00:35